RIBF Nuclear Physics Seminar

Prediction of a "mixed bubble" quantum phase

by Dr Pascal Naidon (Strangeness Nuclear Physics Laboratory)

Asia/Tokyo
via ZOOM

via ZOOM

Description

=Date and Place=
September 7th (Tue) , 10:30~ via ZOOM meeting system
=Lecturer=
Dr. Pascal Naidon
(Strangeness Nuclear Physics Laboratory)
=Title=
Prediction of a "mixed bubble" quantum phase
=Abstract=
In this talk, I will present the results that were communicated on March 22nd, 2021.
https://www.riken.jp/press/2021/20210322_1/index.html
I already gave a short presentation at the Nishina Center Meeting in May, but in this talk I will give more details.
Atomic nuclei are examples of quantum fluids, but it is also possible to create a quantum fluids from gases of atoms by cooling them to nanokelvin temperatures ("ultracold atoms"). The interest of such experiments is that, unlike subatomic particles, atoms can be controlled. For instance, the interactions between the atoms can be engineered. By engineering an attractive interaction inside a mixture of bosonic atoms, it was recently possible to create a "quantum liquid" of atoms, analogous to the quantum liquid formed by protons and neutrons in atomic nuclei.
Inspired by this finding, my collaborator and I have investigated the opposite situation of repulsive interactions between the bosonic atoms. In this case, it was believed that mixtures of quantum gases could either fully mix, or remain completely separated when the repulsion is too strong. However, we found that quantum fluctuations allow an additional phase where bubbles of partially mixed gas can co-exist with a pure gas.
In the talk, I will explain how we obtained this result, and discuss its possible experimental observation.